Campaign Silliness

In the latest round of Presidential campaign silliness, some are questioning whether John McCain is, in fact, qualified by birth to be president if elected. As reported today in the New York Times, some fringe elements are suggesting that because Senator McCain was born on a U.S. military base in the Panama Canal zone, that means he’s not actually a “natural born” citizen, and thus not constitutionally qualified to become President.

I say hogwash. Of all the things that might make McCain a less-than-desirable choice for President, this doesn’t even pass the laugh test. Is he a “true American citizen?” Well, considering he was born on an AMERICAN military base to AMERICAN military parents, the answer would have to be an unqualified “Hell, YES.” Not that I’m normally one to defend any of the current crop of Republicans, but this latest attack is just stupid.

It’s also offensive to me as a retired military person, and the more so to the children of military personnel who happen to have been born overseas. The children of military personnel are fully-fledged American citizens, whether they were born in America, Japan, Spain, or on the Moon (were that possible) and thus fully qualified to become President if they so choose to run. So let’s put this insignificant non-issue to bed and get back to tearing down McCain on substantive issues, such as his recent threat to keep America at war for “10,000 years”: